By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   DENHAM SPRINGS – That more people from further distances attend what has grown to eight performances of the annual Easter drama at Amite Baptist Church attests to the success of the event, which marked its 25th year of production in early April.   [img_assist|nid=7233|title=Amite Easter Drama|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]So too do the 400 or more spiritual decisions made each year.   Virtually every one of the 1,000 or more people who regularly participate in Sunday morning worship at Amite Baptist is involved in one way or another in the Easter drama, said Terry Booth, pastor since 1985. This includes those who pray, those who give, and those who tell people they know about it, in addition to those involved in one of eight teams of 31 crews.   “Hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder, people are crammed in” the worship center where the Easter Drama takes place two weeks before Easter each year, Booth said. “Not only does it stir up and revive the hearts of our people, it builds up the Kingdom and we’re blessing our church and other churches.”   More than 8,000 no-cost (but necessary for crowd control) ticket-holders watched … [Read more...]

Staff, Baptist Press NEW ORLEANS (BP) – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has announced that in light of the economic recession and a reduction in Cooperative Program funding, the seminary will lay off three professors, ask four professors to shift to part-time status, and eliminate six ministry-based faculty positions, effective Aug. 1. New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley made the public announcement in a statement to Baptist Press April 1, after telling seminary staff and faculty. Earlier, he met personally with the individuals affected by the cuts. The changes will be presented to the seminary trustees at their April 12-13 meeting as a part of the proposed budget for next year. Following is Kelley’s full statement: “As a result of the ongoing effects of the recession, the decline in Cooperative Program giving, and the recent reduction of projections for expected CP income next year, some difficult personnel decisions are necessary. Our budget and staff had already been slashed – first after hurricane Katrina, and again in austerity budgets since the beginning of the economic recession. Now the seminary has no alternative but to make faculty personnel cuts. We simply no longer have income sufficient to support … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   NASHVILLE, Tenn. – John Moore has been named the national collegiate ministry leader at the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources.   [img_assist|nid=7237|title=John Moore|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=67|height=100]Moore, a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, worked in the collegiate ministry area of the Louisiana Baptist Convention for nearly 30 years before moving to LifeWay in 2006.   In his new position Moore will work with Baptist collegiate ministers throughout the United States determine strategic priorities for ministering to college and university students.   … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   PINEVILLE – Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard, 54, is home recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery after suffering a heart attack March 28 while at work.   School spokesperson Amy Robertson said Aguillard came through the surgery fine and recovering well from surgery. He was released  Friday, April 8, from Rapides Regional Medical Center and is continuing his recovery at home. There is no timetable on Aguillard's recovery and return to work, however, his doctors have asked that he have no visitors as this time until he has time to regain some of his strength.   LC Vice President Tim Johnson has been named acting president by the school’s board of trustees. … [Read more...]

Letter to the Editor   To the Editor,   As a youth pastor and former BCM student, I am quite familiar with Rob Bell.   I was first introduced to Bell at a BCM where our leader occasionally used his videos as lessons for our meetings. Many of us were instantly hooked.   The charisma Bell has in the Nooma videos quickly and easily attracts young people. However, with Bell’s most recent book being released, we as Christians must take a stand.   Rob Bell is not emergent or even post-modern, but rather, I believe, he is a heretic.   We should not let this type of false theology [Bell’s most recent book, Love Wins, is said to deny core Christian beliefs including the existence of a literal hell] get anywhere near our students. It shouldn’t be on the shelves of our offices, youth rooms, or Christian book stores.   It is against this false doctrine that we must take a stand; for it is a cancer that spreads among the body of Christ rapidly, affecting mostly the younger generation.   We must teach firm doctrine, making our students aware of antichrists among us. Young and old must know that our faith is based on Christ’s teachings. To skew Jesus’ words … [Read more...]

By Pastor Brad Whitt, Temple Baptist Simpsonville, S.C.   I’m not “young, restless and reformed.”   I guess you’d say that I’m young, Southern Baptist and, it seems, increasingly irrelevant.   You see, I’m just a pastor’s son who grew up with a love for my denomination – a Southern Baptist boy by birth and conviction.   As I travel around the SBC, I can see that I’m in the majority; nonetheless, I can’t get away from the overwhelming feeling that in our current denominational world, I am presented as the dinosaur – albeit only a 37-year-old one. It’s obvious when I see who is lifted up as the future of our convention – the hip and cool up-and-comers with whom I have little in common – that my breed is in danger of becoming extinct.   I don’t mind wearing a coat and tie when I preach (at least on Sunday mornings), and I still love to hear a powerful or dynamic choir special. I believe in giving an invitation at the end of every service. Public invitations are still effective. The church where I serve baptized more than 100 people just last year.   I like for the auditorium lights to be on so that I can read my Bible. Also, I don’t get so tired from preaching on … [Read more...]

By Kevin McFadden, Professor of Christian Studies at Louisiana College   [img_assist|nid=7242|title=Kevin McFadden|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=78|height=100]Many Christians know that Jesus Christ died for their sins but have difficulty seeing how this has any direct bearing upon their daily lives. The goal of this and next issue’s essay is to explain how Paul understood Christ’s death for our justification to make a remarkable difference in the believer’s life. I will be reflecting on Romans 5-8 where Paul explains the results of justification by faith. These chapters are meant to give Christians, who live in a world plagued by sin and death, the hope that God through Christ has secured our freedom from this sin and death.   I must begin by explaining what exactly justification by faith is. Perhaps the easiest way to define this doctrine is by contrasting it with its opposites.   First, justification is the opposite of condemnation. Both are declarations of a courtroom – condemnation is the declaration that a person is evil and guilty; justification is the declaration that a person is righteous and innocent.   This is important, because some have argued that justification means that … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Professor of New Testament and Greek at NOBTS Question: What is Palm Sunday all about? Bill Warren responds: Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, marks the beginning of what has traditionally been called “holy week,” the last week in the ministry of Jesus when he was crucified and then resurrected on Easter Sunday morning. The term “Palm Sunday” comes from the use of palm branches as Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem after the walk from Jericho up to Jerusalem. The entry itself is a “street play” or “living parable” in the sense that Jesus stages the event to make a point that others should understand: God’s king is entering his city. Jesus and his disciples had walked all the way to Jerusalem, so walking the last part downhill at the Mount of Olives was not going to be difficult, but instead of walking it, Jesus rides down the hill as a display of who he is, namely the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 (see Matthew 21:4-5 and John 12:14-15) where the Messianic king will come riding into Jerusalem on a donkey’s young colt. Presented in all four Gospels (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12), the importance of this event for the last week is that it establishes that Jesus is … [Read more...]

By Diana Chandler, Regional Reporter   NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans’ primary crime problem is homicide, with rates 10 times the national average and five times that of comparably-sized cities, according to a newly-released U.S. Department of  Justice report focusing on crime trends here.   As New Orleans civic leaders move to reduce crime in the area, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church Pastor Fred Luter is already tackling the problem by strengthening families in faith.   That was the purpose behind Franklin Avenue’s recent family conference, the first of a planned annual event.   [img_assist|nid=7245|title=Pastor Fred Luter|desc=Franklin Avenue Baptist Church Pastor Fred Luter is trying to strengthen families in faith to help address crime in the area. The church’s inaugural family conference was the first step in his efforts.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=505]“I believe the family is key to a lot of the things that are happening or not happening in our society,” Luter said. “God created the family before He created the church.”   Luter’s long desire to hold such a conference was strengthened by a killing on the steps of the church on Father’s Day in … [Read more...]